1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining user information from a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), for determining location information through a Remote Frequency (RF) receiving circuit attached to the USIM, and for controlling peripheral devices such as camera of the portable terminal when a modem of the portable terminal is turned off.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a portable terminal such as a mobile communication terminal or a smart phone, a camera and other devices are now provided in the portable terminal. Thus, a need exists for disabling a function of the camera or a specific device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a portable terminal in the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the portable terminal comprises a camera 110, a PDA controller 120, a communication modem 125, and a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) 130.
The PDA controller 120 determines user information such as a phone number from the USIM 130 and also determines whether it is required for the portable terminal to control the camera 110.
When it is required for the portable terminal to control the camera 110, the PDA controller 120 determines whether a current location of the portable terminal belongs to a location which needs a camera 110 control based on information through the communication modem 125.
When it is required for the portable terminal to control the camera 110 and the current location of the portable terminal belongs to a location which needs the camera 110 control, the PDA controller 120 controls the camera 110 in the current location.
However, a portable terminal such as a smart phone uses a separate Central Processing Unit (CPU) such as the PDA controller 120 to turn off the communication modem 125. In this case, the USIM 130 coupled to the communication modem 125 is turned off together.
As a result, when the PDA controller 120 controls the function of the camera 100 in the portable terminal, it is impossible for the portable terminal to determine the user information from the USIM 130 and the location information through the communication modem 125 when the communication modem 125 is turned off.
Furthermore, it is impossible to control peripheral devices coupled to the smart phone.
Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus and a method for the peripheral device control in the portable terminal.